


Half Time Show

by EvilMuffins



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Champion Marnie AU, F/F, Pining, Time Travel, mentioned raihan/piers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-22
Updated: 2020-02-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:48:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22205137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvilMuffins/pseuds/EvilMuffins
Summary: The Wyndon Stadium locker room? ...But how ?While Marnie had heard of people blacking out after losing a match, she had always thought that it was only an urban legend.“Who’s up next?” she asked, not yet trusting herself to stand. The entire inside of her mouth felt as if she had gotten caught in one of Raihan’s sandstorms again.“Why, it’s you, Miss! You’re up against #69, Trainer Gloria!”
Relationships: Mary | Marnie/Yuuri | Gloria
Comments: 11
Kudos: 113
Collections: Chocolate Box - Round 5





	Half Time Show

**Author's Note:**

  * For [clearlykero](https://archiveofourown.org/users/clearlykero/gifts).



“ ‘ow’s Hop doing lately?” Marnie asked, wrapping a pot holder around the kettle handle, before pouring the steaming water into two mismatched mugs. 

“Good,” Gloria replied absently, still petting Morpeko. Butting its head up into Gloria’s hand, the creature was in one of its rare good moods, although Marnie liked to think that he not-so-secretly enjoyed Gloria’s visits. “When he’s not assisting Sonia in the lab, he’s following Leon around, helping with his charity events and what-not.” 

“That’s good to hear.” Marnie set one of the mugs down on the coffee table across from Gloria. Inhaling the flowery aroma of earl grey, Marnie took a sip of her own, cradling it between her hands as she settled into the easy chair. 

Hop had taken his loss to Marnie during the Cup admirably well, and he had managed to bounce back quickly, setting a new path in life for himself straight after. Although Marnie had never been as close to Hop as Gloria had been, she was still proud of him. 

“What about you?” Marnie asked pointedly.

Gloria shifted uncomfortably, causing Morpeko to leap from her lap. “Managing.”

“Are you eatin’?” Marnie prodded, leaning forward in her seat. “You haven’t been lookin’ too chipper lately.”

“I had some porridge this morning, I guess. It’s easier to make than curry when living out of a tent, so I’ve been making it a lot lately.” Gloria laughed weakly, plucking at the fraying hem of her skirt. She had yet to touch her tea. 

“You could always stay ‘ere,” Marnie offered, just as she did every time Gloria wandered into Wyndon. Living in the Wild Area for months on end had not been kind to her. The peony-pink hair she had delighted in by the time they had reached the finals had now faded to nearly platinum, brown roots on full display. Dark circles loomed beneath Gloria’s eyes and Marnie longed to kiss them away. “There’s plenty o' room.”

If you were the type to consider the apartment’s single bed to be ‘plenty o' room’, that is. 

As much as Marnie adored both Spikemuth and her brother, living full-time in the small town had become increasingly less feasible ever since she had been crowed Champion. The modest apartment she had taken up near the Wyndon gym suited her just fine, even if Team Yell did sometimes get lost while looking for the place. Somehow, Gloria never had trouble finding her way onto Marnie’s couch. 

“Your brother’s dating Raihan now,” Gloria changed the subject. “He still misses his baby sister though.”

Marnie snorted. “So long as he’s gotten over bein’ smitten with Lance! Raihan is a stand-up guy, but let’s face it, he never ‘ad a chance with the Champion of an entirely different region. Think Lance is twenty years older than him, anyhow…”

She missed the company of Piers too, his music, even his once-annoying tendency to smother. To have been so wrapped up in her duties as the Champion to not even have known that her famously awkward brother was dating a social-media superstar… Although she was thrilled for him, Marnie’s stomach still churned. Her mug clinked with worrying force as she set it down. 

“It’s getting late,” Gloria said suddenly, standing to retrieve her jacket and hat from the arm of the couch, before pulling them on. “I should go.”

“Gloria, oi,” Marnie said, and Gloria paused, turning where she stood in the doorway. 

Placing a pointer-finger on either corner of her mouth, Marnie tugged her lips upward to form a clownishly large smile. 

Gloria giggled softly as she left, and Marnie’s heart bubbled over in her chest. 

Later that night, Marnie rolled over in bed, burying her face in her hands. Sensing her distress, Morpeko leapt up on her stomach, knocking the wind out of her, but unfortunately not the tempest of thoughts roiling inside of her head.

“I wanted to kiss her again, ‘Peko,” Marnie confessed, more to the pillow than her Pokemon. She had wanted to scoop her best friend up into her arms and hold her tight until she decided to stay. 

More than all of that, she had wanted to apologise to Gloria for winning those three years ago, for stealing her dream. 

“It wouldn’t be fair to her, though…” Of course the desire to confess her feelings had run through Marnie’s mind periodically ever since the day she had led Gloria in through the secret entrance to Spikemuth. At least, that’s when she thought that it had first started. Even that first run-in at the Budew Drop Inn had sparked something deep within Marnie that her pre-teen mind had dismissed as pure rivalry at the time. 

A confession of some silly girlhood crush from the very same person who had ruined Gloria’s life? There was no way that Marnie could ever bear to burden her best friend even further with something like that.

With a heavy sigh, Marnie sat up, sending Morpeko scurrying to settle in at the foot of the bed instead. Sliding open the drawer of her nightstand, she pulled out a single pokeball, turning it over in her hands. Just a standard run of the mill pokeball, it wouldn’t have fit in at all with Marnie’s usual party, all housed in darkballs as they were. 

She never would have thought to try Wonder Trade on her own, if it weren’t for how Gloria used to rave about how much fun it was, back before she had run off to the Wild Area for good. Marnie had always preferred for her Pokemon to follow a theme--something she had gotten from her brother--but the unforeseen boredom and frustration of being a Champion had spurred her to try something new. 

She had had to call up Hop, who in turn had to shout across their study at Sonia, in order to even find out what it was. 

Celebi.

They weren’t even supposed to really exist, but then again, neither were Eternatus or the two legendary ‘heroes’ that were now Hop and Gloria’s closest partners. 

To wind up with such a thing the one and only time she had bothered to use the Wonder Trade… 

_'Celebi can grant wishes'_ , Hop had told her, practically bouncing out of the Rotomphone’s screen with excitement. ‘ _Sonia’s gran says they can even turn back time!’_

Marnie stuffed the pokeball underneath her pillow, rolling her eyes at the ceiling. Even if the tales were true, Marnie had made this life for herself, and she would have to make peace with her choices. Maybe she would call up Piers tomorrow, and find out when she could come over and visit. He seemed to sound more and more weary with his duties as gym leader each time they talked; maybe he would appreciate a break. They could could even jam together, if he wanted. It still weighed on Marnie that he hardly had time for his music anymore. 

Despite all of her worries, sleep found Marnie quickly.

_Oh Celebi, I wish I had never won that tournament…_

* * *

“Oww…” Marnie groaned, her back aching against the hard floor.

When was the last time she had fallen out of bed during the night? When she was ten and Piers had let her watch that scary documentary about Lavender Town the night before?

“Miss! Are you alright?” came a voice Marnie couldn’t recognise, followed by the sound of sneakers squeaking as someone jogged toward her. 

Marnie’s eyes snapped open. Looming above her was the concerned face of a stadium attendant. 

“Should I call the Pokemon Center?”

“Nah, I’m fine…” Marnie said automatically, stoic nature getting the better of her as she pushed herself up on her elbows and attempted to take in her surroundings. 

The Wyndon Stadium locker room? ...But _how_?

While Marnie had heard of people blacking out after losing a match, she had always thought that it was only an urban legend. 

“Who’s up next?” she asked, not yet trusting herself to stand. The entire inside of her mouth felt as if she had gotten caught in one of Raihan’s sandstorms again. 

“Why, it’s you, Miss! You’re up against #69, Trainer Gloria!”

But she had _won_ that match already, and not even today, but a full three years ago. Was this some sort of dream? Marnie’s dreams were more often than not about either (a. drowning in a giant bowl of curry, (b. or showing up to challenge Gloria in nothing but her knickers. Looking herself over, Marnie found herself to be fully clothed, although in her Gym Challenge uniform rather than the sleep shirt she had gone to bed in last night.

_Last night…_

_Celebi._

Marnie leapt to feet, ignoring the rush of blood to her head. 

She was going to set things right. 

“Are you certain you’re alright, Miss?” The attendant asked again. “The match is about to start, but it would be possible to send out Ball Guy for an improptu half-time show, if you need a moment…”

Marnie shook her head fervently, breezing past into the entrance gate. “I’ve never been more ready.”

One thing that Marnie had quickly learned about Gloria, was the fact that the girl loved dressing up. Once free from her Wooloo-loving home town and the cardigans that came with it, Gloria came out of each and every town along her journey wearing something completely new. At times pastel, or sometimes punk, she was always adorable in Marnie’s eyes. 

Standing opposite from Marnie across the field, dressed in her simple sporty Gym Challenge uniform (even with that #69 emblazoned on the back that had always made Marnie roll her eyes), Gloria looked the most radiant that she had ever seen her.

Behind her, Marnie could hear the raucous shouts and cheers of Team Yell, but she was too entirely captivated by her dearest rival to pay any mind to another soul, even in the center of a stadium of thousands. 

Gloria was never one for speeches, so it was Marnie who spoke instead, “I won’t go easy on ya.” 

It was the truth; she wasn’t about to just _let_ Gloria win, she had decided. That would hardly have been fair to her after struggling so hard to reach the top.

The referee signaled the start of the match, and Scrafty sprung lose from his pokeball, followed by Gloria’s Corvinight. 

The last time they had fought this very same battle, it was Liepard that had led her team. Marnie would change up her team’s order from before, but nothing more. She would still battle her hardest, just as her Pokemon would expect her to, just as Gloria would know her to. 

Scrafty went down in two hits, followed in quick succession by the rest of Marnie’s team. In the course of moments that passed like hours, both trainers were soon down to their last partner. 

Towering over the field, Grimsnarl, imposing in its massive Gigantamax form, faced down Gloria’s beloved Hatterne. 

Marnie couldn’t help but feel a blossom of affection rise in her chest. ‘Hateraid’ had always liked her best, Gloria had joked once. Despite all of the times that the Pokemon had lashed out at Gloria, or Hop, even Bede for being too boisterous, it had always maintained its serene demeanor whenever Marnie had visited Gloria’s camp.

Watching as Hatterene thoroughly and utterly handed Grimsnarl its entire bottom and then some, for the first time in Marnie’s life she felt entirely elated to have lost a Pokemon battle. A surge of pride washed over her as Gloria cheered and leapt from sheer joy, and it took everything Marnie had to maintain her composure rather than sprint across the field to bundle her beloved rival up in her arms forever, like statues set in place to commemorate the win. 

“I’ll be routing for ya,” Marnie announced, more certain than she had been of anything in her life. If only her face would listen. With all her might, Marnie convinced her lips to form a smile. She may have looked like a deranged Gengar on live television, but Gloria saw her as well, and returned the sentiment two-fold.

_Dear Arceus, I love her…_

If only Marnie’s heartbeat would listen to her mind. It pounded in her chest as she watched Gloria’s match against Hop on the monitor. During first time that she had lived through the tournament, Marnie truly hadn’t been certain just who to route for, despite her blossoming feelings. Hop was a worthy opponent as well, and Marnie was reminded of that as she witnessed his prowess from the locker room. Fingernails digging into her knees, Marnie sat on the edge of the bench, breath catching in her throat as Rillaboom’s drum fell away from him. 

Gloria had done it. She had won. Just as before, she would go on to face Eternatus. Only this time, she would be the one to defeat Leon after the crisis was over, taking her rightful place as Champion of Galar. 

“Marnie,” Gloria said breathlessly, eyes growing wide when she spotted Marnie still waiting there for her. “I thought you would have been heading back to Spikemuth by now.” Her assumption hadn’t been meant as a dig, Marnie knew. She had told Gloria once before that if on the slim chance she didn’t win, Marnie would go back home and take over for her brother at the gym. 

“I ‘ad a dizzy spell earlier before the match, so they said I could rest in the locker room some more before heading out,” Marnie explained, marching across the room toward Gloria before she had a chance to lose her nerve. 

“What are-”

Gloria’s entire body radiated heat, a sheen of sweat glistening over every bit of exposed skin, soaking into Marnie’s own uniform as she held her tight. Slowly, uncertainly at first, Gloria’s arms moved in her grasp until they came to circle her back in turn, embracing Marnie with all her might. 

“ _I love you.”_

* * *

“Marnie?”

As Gloria’s voice drifted over her ears, Marnie became aware of gentle fingers threading through her hair. Vaguely, she remembered letting it down lose earlier in the evening, and Gloria’s resulting compliments bringing a blush to her face. 

Eyes fluttering open, Marnie was greeted by the warm brown eyes of Gloria smiling down at her. 

Sluggishly, limbs heavy with the weight of a well-earned nap, Marnie raised her head of off Gloria’s lap, pushing herself up instead to sit beside her on the couch. 

Everything was still there, Morpeko’s bed in the corner, Piers’ guitar propped up against the chair. They were back at Marnie and Piers’ home in Spikemuth as if nothing had ever happened. Even Gloria's bright pink hair was still fresh as the day she had first stepped into the salon.

“C’mere, Miss Champion,” Marnie pulled Gloria in close, pressing their lips into a tender kiss, all the while reminding herself to save another kiss for Celebi’s pokeball later. The magical creature deserved her utmost thanks, even if the memories of Marnie’s time as Champion were already beginning to fade.

  
  
  
  



End file.
